Game of Death: The Blackest Swordsman
by Goa1aso
Summary: Hiding the stains of his past, the misunderstood swordsman struggles forward to save everyone he can in the death game that Kayaba created. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to help others, right?" "You need to save yourself first, idiot!"


**As a part of my own efforts at taking back control of my life, I'll be starting up this story. Expect regular updates, as I am using this as an exercise to train my own self-discipline.**

**I have a few ideas and plot points to iron out still but hang on 'cause I've got quite the ride planned out for you all.**

**This will be very different from canon, so be ready.**_  
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_The first thing he could remember were the screams._

_His head throbbed at the noise of the shrill cries of the children around him. Too loud._

_He raised his head and opened his eyes. An inferno awaited before him. His own personal hell._

_A yellow, large bus lay on its side, with flames erupting from the front end. Soon, the whole bus would be engulfed in flames._

"_Help, someone!"_

"_Save me!"_

_Children cried out from within, begging for a savior._

_And yet, he couldn't move. Eyes trembling with tears, limbs shaking, he cried out in pain as his broken bones ground together._

_The cries continued._

_But he couldn't find it within him to crawl forwards and help. Something primal in him refused to let him go towards the danger._

_All of a sudden, a huge explosion set off, the shockwave sending him flying further away._

_His consciousness faded as he hit the ground. He welcomed the darkness, if it would help him forget the hell he had seen._

…

_The second thing he could remember were the sirens._

_His eyes closed, he raised his bloodied head off the ground at the sound of approaching, hurried footsteps. Opening his eyes and squinting at the sudden influx of light, he saw the camouflage patterned uniform of an approaching EMT._

"_Over here! There's a child alive!"_

_He whimpered at the shouting, his head throbbing harder at the noise, moving to cover his ears._

_At least, he tried. _

_The grinding of bones and the brief shock of pain before unfeeling numbness prevented him from doing anything._

_The team of EMTs rushed over to him with a stretcher, lifting him up as if he were made of glass and placed him down just as carefully before carting him off into the waiting ambulance._

_The nurse sitting in the back with him fussed over him, cleaning the blood and small glass splinters from his face, talking to him all the while._

"_How are you feeling?"_

"_Don't fall asleep on me!"_

"_What's your name? And your parents' as well?"_

_The barrage of words assaulting his ears, he stared back at her blankly. With his eyes as dead as the people he left behind, he answered only one question._

"_Kazuto," he rasped out with effort, falling silent once more._

_After all, he didn't know anything else -_

_\- Flames licked the side of the yellow bus, the cries of children adding to the cacophony before a deafening explosion -_

_\- but his body was alive, at the very least._

_The woman fell silent, recording his name, picking up on his silence._

_His eyes drooped steadily, before succumbing to the sweet release of unconsciousness, the frantic nurse's words fading out to nothingness._

_0o0o0o0o0_

Kirigaya Midori hummed to herself as she prepared dinner for the family of two, the television in the room adjacent blaring the news to the empty living room.

'_I wish that Minetaka could be home more often…'_ she thought wistfully, gently stirring the pan full of vegetables.

The resulting sizzle had apparently caught the attention of her 7-year old daughter, who scrambled down the stairs in her mad dash to the dinner table.

"Wha's for dinner mommy?" Suguha demanded eagerly, her missing front teeth causing a cute lisp.

"I'm cooking some vegetables right now, sweetie," Midori replied patiently, smiling gently at her cute daughter.

"Ewwww! Can we have curry pwease?" she pouted, crossing her arms.

"Now, now. I already started cooking for today's dinner. How about tomorrow?"

"Yay!" the second-grader exclaimed happily, appeased for the moment.

In the background, the television continued broadcasting the news to the uncaring household, providing a comfortable, constant noise to the otherwise quiet house.

"Breaking news! There has been an accident on Highway X. A truck driver driving under the influence veered into the oncoming traffic, plowing straight through the divider, colliding at an angle with a school bus. The bus caught flames and the fuel tank exploded after a short while. The current estimated death count is 29. The two teachers with the children also died. There is only one survivor, a child. He is currently en-route to the nearest hospital."

The television was brought to the front of attention with this grim news update.

Midori shivered, the unpleasant news sending a crawling sensation down her spine. "That's pretty close by… Damn drunk drivers. I need to be careful while driving Suguha to school tomorrow," she muttered to herself. "Suguha, can you turn off the TV?" she called out suddenly, unwilling to hear more about the incident.

"Haaaai."

The pitter-patter of small feet went into the living room, but the news anchorman continued to ramble on about the car accident, presumably with some pictures or a live broadcast from the scene.

"Suguha?"

"Um, mommy, the boy looks a lot like Ka-chan… I can't really tell 'cause he looks really dirty."

Not recognizing the childish nickname at first, she thought for a second. Then her eyes widened in horror.

"Kazuto?!"

The two children had had a few playdates together since their parents were close, and as a result they'd given each other childish nicknames. Midori had often joked about the two marrying when they grew up, a sentiment which the boy's mother, Aoi, agreed with wholeheartedly.

The grown woman rushed to the television, only just to barely get a glimpse of the bloodied face of Kazuto before the camera angle changed to one that panned across the rest of the scene.

Her breath caught when she beheld the image. A blackened school bus laid on its side. Firefighters and policemen worked together to open up the roof to extract the long-dead human bodies trapped inside.

She covered Suguha's eyes (to an indignant "Hey, I can't see anymore!"), unwilling to expose her daughter to the grim reality of the situation.

The reporter continued. "The two teachers have been identified as Narusaka Aoi and her husband, Narusaka Yukito." The camera panned over the extracted bodies, disfigured beyond the point of recognition by the flames. Two larger, adult bodies lay side by side.

Midori's eyes widened, brimming with tears. Her closest friends were gone, just like that.

After a brief pause, the camera swiveled to the instigator of the tragedy.

The truck that caused the accident looked none worse for wear however, its inebriated driver looking around blearily as if he couldn't comprehend reality as he stood handcuffed next to a police officer before he was forcefully shoved into the back of the police car.

Keeping one hand over her daughter's face, she picked up the TV remote and turned it off herself.

"Honey, we're gonna go check up on Kazuto. Let's go now," Midori willed the tears away, putting a strong face for the young girl.

"Oh, I can play with him soon?"

"Yes, and if everything goes well, you can play with him as long as you want."

"Yay! Let's gooooo I can't wait!" the innocent girl cheered, towing her hapless mother towards the car.

The once cheerfully sizzling pan of vegetables sat cooling on the stove, forgotten.

_0o0o0o0o0_

After the first initial visit right after the accident, Midori made sure to come and check up on Kazuto every day until he was ready to be discharged from the hospital, Suguha in tow more often than not.

'_That first meeting went poorly,'_ she thought to herself, a wry smile forming at that. But everything should work out in the end, at least she hoped.

Suguha was devastated when she realized that her friend didn't remember her. Her eyes brimming with tears, she vowed to make him remember.

"I'll make you remember, just you wait!" were her words, as she marched out of the room with determination, head held high as she could. The nurses watching were visibly lovestruck at the adorableness of the young girl.

The next few visits involved a lot of terrorizing of the injured patient, much to the mother's chagrin.

Midori shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Now was not the time to be reminiscing, she told herself, taking a deep breath before stepping through the now-familiar hospital door marked with the name 'Narusaka Kazuto', paperwork in hand.

Putting on the best smile she could as she approached the bed, she pulled up a seat and sat down. The boy watched her curiously, with a hint of fear in his eyes as he peered past her.

"Is _she_ not here today?" Kazuto asked hopefully.

Midori stifled a laugh. "No, I came alone today."

He visibly relaxed, sinking back into the pillows of the bed with a wince.

She decided to drop the bomb. "Would you like to be adopted by me?"

* * *

**An actual chapter will be out soon, currently writing it. (1300 words atm)**

**I'll try to write every day and see how far I get by the end of the week. With that, I'll have a rough idea of how much I can write and then make a regular schedule based off that.**


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